When Kin Collide
by Prewritesuccession
Summary: After coming to Japan for the summer to help students train for a prestigious tennis camp, Ariadne realizes she gains more than she bargains for after a simple game of her father's "Sportman Hunt" goes wrong.
1. Chapter 1

*Author's Note: This story takes place in "The New Prince of Tennis", after the losers from the U-17 camp have their first day with the hidden coach, Mifune Nyuudou.*

It was a pleasant day. I wished nothing better for the day I died. Sweat popped up on my face as I struggled to find a foothold. For the hundredth time, I told myself not to look down. _Why did Dad _have _to work here? _I collapsed on a cleft in the rock and downed a bottle of water. My shirt stuck to my back as I sat up and squinted up at the summit. The eagles were circling. _There must be a hunt today, _I thought to myself. I smiled and started climbing again.

An hour and a few scars later, I shuffled up onto the peak. I gasped for air and cursed my nonexistent muscles. Wheezing, I pulled myself up and looked around. There was the cabin, where Dad's students lodged in, the cave, where his students _also _lodged in, the tennis courts and forest. Despite the climb up, I loved this place more than anything.

I wiped my brow and wondered where everyone was. A nearby screech told me. Swinging my pack around, I tore into the forest with a smile. The Sportsman Hunt was my favorite game. The deeper I went, I ran into the guys. Some were old from last year whom I greeted. They looked surprised to see me, even though I came up here every summer since I was eight. Some newbies with white T-shirts ran around screaming while my eagles chased around. I laughed quietly and shook my head. That just made them more exciting targets to follow.

The loud pop of a balloon made me jump. It was close. Turning my head, I saw a group of mid-schoolers in a group. They looked pretty scared. I smiled wider. They were pretty cute. "Hello!" I called, waving. They seemed startled. I _was _the only girl up here.

One smiled at me fleetingly, still on the look-out for the eagles. He yelled something I didn't understand. _Oh, right. I don't speak Japanese. _I made some vague hand gestures and flashed a small smile. Another guy with a weird haircut called out his name as Lacy, my favorite fledgling screeched and flapped out from the canopy. "Momo!" _Momo...what a strange name. _Lacy opened her beak to try to pop the salmon-scented balloon. I whistled loudly as Momo and the others recoiled in vain attempt to protect their balloons.

Lacy squawked one final time and flew to rest on my right arm. She was heavier than last time. I pet her head-feathers affectionately. Looking up, I saw the boys run away. I huffed. You could've said _thank you_, you know. I rolled my eyes and let Lacy fly. Oh well. Messing with the birds made Dad angry. I grinned and ran through the trees, looking for some more victims to save.

By the end of the day, I had managed to save numerous groups of both newbies and others. And so one said a single word of thanks. Rolling my eyes, I jogged back to the cabin. It was dinner-time, and I was _hungry_. Commotion met my ears and eyes as I appeared through the trees. Two boys, smaller than the rest, though still taller than me, were on the courts, firing painful chestnuts at _my _birds with sling-shots. Firing at the eagles _I_ had rescued and protected for this many years. Their aim was never off. Lacy and the others flew away as those two pegged chestnuts into their open beaks. I cried out and ran to the cliff side, whistling hard, hoping they'd come back. Ace gave me his evil eye as he flew. The alpha didn't trust me anymore. None of them did.

I sobbed and fell on my knees. I heard people gather behind me, muttering in Japanese. I could only understand a few words, but I knew they were confused. But I didn't care. My beautiful eagles, gone. Flying away. Without me. I cried hard until a shadow fell over me. I looked up, tears obscuring my vision. I recognized him as one of the boys who made my eagles leave, shot still in his left hand. The shadow of his dirty white cap hid his eyes.

Anger swelled into my heart as I stood up, marching up to him. I didn't care that he didn't understand me. Anger understood all languages. "_What is your problem? Why did you do that to my beautiful birds?_" I screamed at him, fists shaking. He put his hands in his pockets and walked away to the others who stood, looking startled at my outburst. I turned and ran into the wood, weaving through the roots and trees I had grown to love. Here, nothing ever changed. Until my birds flew away.

I tripped over several new shrubs and tangled my hair in barbs from bushes. Fat tears still streamed from my eyes, but I ran fast and they flew far behind me. I ran until my breath was gone then walked, hand on chest, to my destination. Stroking the bark of my favorite tree was comforting. It made me forget my birds for a moment. Climbing up the whorls in the bark, I felt nimble and strong; familiar, safe. I climbed up and sat in a "V" near the top of the tree. I wiped my tears and stroked the delicate leaves clinging to the branches above my head.

I sighed and closed my eyes. Why had I done that? Those boys...were being smart. But why did Dad always have to be so impulsive? They had seen Lacey and Ace as threats. But they'd _never _hurt people. I sniffed. The others probably thought of me as...as...something strange. With my emerald eyes and Asian look, and me crying over eagles? This didn't help my first impression.

A shuffle from the undergrowth made me involuntarily shrink. Threatening creatures didn't live in this forest. But what if other things had changed too? I scooted behind the trunk and peered around it at the ground. But what came wasn't a monster. It was just that boy with the dirty white Fila cap. He looked straight up at me hiding in the tree. He squinted up and examined the bark, then, too my horror, started to climb.

I had no choice but scoot over for him to sit. With me. In _my_ tree. Would he chop it down too, along with having my birds abandon me? He sat haphazardly, legs swinging off the branches. I gulped. It was his choice to sit like that, right? I sat stiffly, one arm wrapped around a higher branch in case I fell. Yes, I was scared of falling. But there wasn't a possibility of falling when I was cautious.

He looked at me. His eyes were green; not intense like mine, but light like the color or the forest at twilight. They weren't hard or soft or sad...they just..._were_. "Hi." I nearly jumped in surprise and gripped the branch even tighter. _So he speaks English. _"I'm...sorry about those birds. Were they yours?" I nodded. He wasn't fluent, having a clear foreign accent, but it had a soft lilt to it. Maybe I had misjudged him. You could tell a lot about a person through their voice.

"Ryoma. Ryoma Echzen." He stuck out his left hand.

"Ariadne." I shook it lightly. I hugged my knees and looked away. The sun was lower. Red seeped into the green of the forest canopy. Sighing, I stood. "Dinner is soon." He nodded and hopped down. I gulped again and slowly slipped down. We walked back slowly, him always a stride ahead of me. A smile danced on my lips. I wasn't sure if I liked him, but he was definitely curious.

Dad yelled at me in front of the others in Japanese, but I didn't flinch. In fact, I smiled. He paused and eyed me with a glare as sharp as Ace. I punched his arm lightly and laughed. He grunted and said something to the players. They eyed me hesitantly. A few laughed nervously.

"What'd you say?" I whispered to him out of the corner of my mouth.

He grinned in his gruff way and whispered back, "My daughter, Ariadne, will be my assistant for the next few months. And if I see _anyone _getting too _close,_ they'll never find your body." I flushed red at the message and the many cuss words he used that I learned to automatically filter through. I picked at my sleeve and bounced on my feet. _What should I do? _Dad chuckled darkly.

"Food, students!" He cried. But of course he didn't actually say "students." I dug in like a starving person and grinned. The sun disappeared, leaving streaks of color over the sky. Reds and pinks danced with yellows and blues over the dark silhouettes of the forest and the trees. The bonfire warmed my heart. I loved summer.


	2. Chapter 2

*Author's Note: This story takes place in "The New Prince of Tennis", after the losers from the U-17 camp have their first day with the hidden coach, Mifune Nyuudou.*

The next day, I woke, immediately to the sounds of tennis. I slipped into one of my nicer dresses and combed my hair, rearranging it in the most flattering fashion to frame my heart-shaped face. I would redeem myself from yesterday's..._accident_.

Outside, I was greeted by a frenzy people and the hollow noises of balls bouncing on the dirt floors of the courts. I raised an eyebrow. A game was in progress; a doubles game, to be exact. But that wasn't the most surprising part. They were playing normally, as if on a normal court, on this rough and uneven ground with debris and rocks imbedded into its surface. They had adapted quickly. I smiled and watched the game.

Later, after several matches, I began to swelter in the heat and paid a quick trip to my tree, looking for some protection in the shade. I squealed with delight when I saw Lacy, Ace and all the others, sitting quietly, waiting for me on the top branches. I whistled happily and Lacy squawked in my direction as I scrambled up the tree. I spent the rest of the day with my birds until the stars started to twinkle in the sky and they departed in a flurry of feathers.

I sighed and lollygagged all the way back to the cabin. Hopping the fence, I lay down in the cool grass, watching the moon gleam and shine like a nicely-polished silver saucer. A set of breathing to my left told me that I was not the only one out here tonight. Sitting up, I saw Ryoma, lying with his hands behind his head. I smiled and crawled on over next to him.

"Hi." He looked at me and back at the sky.

"Hello." I bit my lip at his lack of response, and put my head against the ground next to him. We lay quietly for a few minutes just watching the night. It felt comforting and familiar, even though we had hardly exchanged any words. Footsteps approached us from behind, and another middle-schooler squatted beside us. They spoke a few Japanese words. I wished we could talk like that together. Suddenly, all the students stood behind the fence.

I blinked, confused. _What's going on? _Ryoma smiled. I wish I could make him smile. He sat up with a newfound vigor and then stood, walking away with the rest of them. I sat up, confused. _I sure wish I could speak Japanese,_ I pouted, upset. I looked back, but they were gone. They had left me. I grinned widely to try to stop my tears, but my smile shook and I angrily wiped the tears off of my cheeks. _They don't need you. _ _They don't need you. _I collapsed into the grass again and my shoulders shook with my sobs. Something soft brushed my side. I sniffled and picked it up, running my finger across the torn fabric. It was Ryoma's hat. Beaten and dirty, he had left it after he went with the others.

I patted off the dirt from my dress and wiped the tears off my face. I needed to prove that I wasn't just some sensitive little girl who cried every single second. I found him at the bonfire, next to everyone else, with Dad in the middle a torch in his hand and at his feet empty bottles of sake. I ran up to Ryoma who stood near the center, pushing my way through the throng of people and wordlessly plopping his hat on top of his head as I edged up next to him. He smiled at me, flames still dancing in his green eyes. But that smile wasn't for me. It was for whatever thing they were planning. Smiles never were for me.

I scowled as he and the others roared in excitement and began spilling over the cliff side, scaling down the mountain. "Dad?" I cried out. But he kept marching on until every last student had gone down. The shouts of excitement died down the lower they climbed. _Where were they going? And this late at night?_

I ran up to my father as he stood, torch burning at the edge of what seemed like the deepest, darkest chasm in the whole world. Stumbling away from the rim, I collapsed and breathed hard. This wasn't very safe. I could fall. Not safe. Not safe. _Not safe. _I closed my eyes and slowly crawled to Dad who peered down as if it were only a few feet deep instead of a few hundred.

"What's going on?" I croaked, my voice shaking. He stared down for a while longer before marching back to the bonfire. My body quivered with relief as I followed him in. Safe. Close was safe. _This _was safe. He threw the stick back into the flame and sat down next to the bottles.

"They're being braver than I had the courage to do." I was shocked to hear him like this. Dad hid behind his awful façade, but now, he actually sounded...choked up. I frightened me. "They're taking on the camp. They're creating revolution."

I blinked. Dad had complained about the U-17 camp for years. About how stuck-up and unfair the whole system was, about how annoying the "elite" coaches were. But I thought that was just empty griping. Apparently not. Definitely not. I grinned. This was good; brave. Those boys were not afraid. They were courageous.

Their plan was full of holes, though, and the outcomes of failure would be disastrous. Not safe. But most things in life _weren't _safe. I felt my eyes flash with realization. Safe, safe, safe. I was so _sick _at always being safe. Safe always stayed the same. But discovery was clouded in mystery; terrifying, dangerous-_amazing_. Discovery made my bones go cold as if I were standing on a tightrope over the clouds. But you never knew what it would bring unless you tried. Something awful, something wonderful. Always a lesson. Always a prize.

I grinned even wider and tore into the trees. "Ariadne, where are you going?" Dad yelled angrily, back to his old self.

Shouting behind me, I laughed with joy. "To discover!" He yelled something else, but I was already too far away to hear a word. I ran hard and leapt up my tree nimbly, hanging off the branches, then climbed into the lofty canopy without fear, but still with caution. I felt so free, so wild, so..._wonderful._ I prayed well for everyone, that the injustice would be justified and the awful tricks be stopped once and for all. I looked up and smiled into the night and saw the hopes of the revolution swirl in the skies with the stars like wishes.

Lights. Discoveries. Hope.


End file.
